This invention relates generally to exercise equipment. More particularly it relates to equipment which is operable by a user during locomotion activities to enhance the benefit of locomotive exercise according to the particular desires of the individual.
Increasing awareness of the health benefits of regular exercise have lead to an increase in the amount of exercise equipment in use. For the most part this exercise equipment is stationarily located, such as gyms, homes, or training facilities. Some of applicant's inventions relate to improvements in this type of exercise equipment and reference is made to applicant's issued U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,549,733 dated Oct. 29, 1985 and 4,657,246 dated Apr. 14, 1987.
It is also recognized that human locomotion activity can have a beneficial health effect if regularly one. This refers to running and walking exercises, and while these can be performed indoors or outdoors, it is generally more conductive for individuals to engage in such activities out-of-doors, at least where weather conditions permit.
In order to obtain beneficial health effects, it has been documented that a certain minimum level of exercise activity is required. While for any given individual the level will depend upon that individual's particular physical condition at the time, it is generally fair to say that a reasonably healthy individual will require a significant amount of locomotive activity in order to obtain physical benefit, particularly for the cardiovascular system. It has been shown necessary to generate a certain minimum level of cardiovascular activity before cardiovascular benefit will occur. For some individuals, moderate walking may be a sufficient level of activity to generate therapeutic effects, yet for other individuals distance running may be necessary. The extent to which an individual's cardiovascular system is exercised will also depend upon the nature of the surroundings over which the locomotive activity takes place. For example, on flat terrain a lower load is imposed than would be the case for locomotive activity over hilly terrain.
In order to enhance the effectiveness of exercise activity, and this includes locomotive exercise activity, individuals may add weights to parts of their bodies in order to increase the loading imposed on the cardiovascular and muscular systems. Hence, running with an extra ten pounds of weight for example, will result in the attainment of a given level of cardiovascular activity sooner than would be the case where weights are not used.
The use of weights typically requires a means for attachment of the weights to the body and this often involves the use of holders for the weights which are strapped onto the user. It requires extra time to attach and remove the weights, and in general it also means that over the course of performing exercise the same amount of weight will be used unless the individual stops and either removes or adds to the amount of weight. Where the user is exercising over the road, he or she may be a distance from the starting and stopping points and therefore it may be impractical to change weights over the course of the route. Moreover, because such weights will have to be placed somewhere on the body, there may be effects on certain parts of the body which may not be desired because of the need to attach the weights. The weights also change the user's natural center of gravity.
The present invention is directed to equipment for enhancement of locomotive exercise without the use of weights attached to the body. Equipment of the present invention offers significant benefits over other type of equipment, such as weights, and is intended to enhance the effectiveness of locomotive exercise Equipment of the present invention can be utilized for walking, jogging, and running. It is well suited for over-the-road operation on different types of terrain be it grass, dirt, concrete or otherwise. Another advantage of the invention is that it is readily adapted for individual human use without the need for any elaborate attachment mechanism to the individual. Indeed, in the disclosed preferred embodiment, the equipment is operable simply by the user grasping it and pulling or pushing. The equipment also has the ability for adjusting the loading effect on the individual to different levels. This is important because the user can then adapt the load to his or her desired rate of locomotion. In other words for example, the user can walk with the equipment imposing a higher load (i.e. torque) than might be imposed when the user desires to run. This adjustment can be quickly accomplished by the user, and indeed can even be done, while the user continues to locomote. Moreover, appropriate load selection by the user enables "progressive resistance type" locomotive exercise to be performed.
A still further advantage of the invention is that its construction is not particularly complicated. Embodiments of the invention can be fabricated out of existing known components and several specific examples of construction are disclosed in the drawing figures.
The foregoing features, advantages, and benefits of the invention, along with additional ones, will be seen in the ensuing description and claims which should be considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The drawings disclose a preferred embodiment of the invention according to the best mode contemplated at the present time in carrying out the invention.